The A. Philip Randolph Messenger Awards winners: pictured (second row, from left) are, Natalie Cole, Our Weekly; Wendell Hutson, The Chicago Defender; David Miller, Our Weekly, Moses Brewer, director of multicultural relations, African-American segment for MillerCoors; (middle, from left) Jenniffer French-Parker, Crossroads News; Kathy Chaney, The Chicago Defender; Al Thomas, The Philadelphia Tribune; Rod Doss, The New Pittsburgh Courier; (front row) Larry Waters, vice president of multicultural relations for MillerCoors, Bobbie Dore Foster, The Skanner News Editor accepting second place awards for Lisa Loving and Helen Silvis; Clyde Jiles, The Houston Defender;
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 James Henderson, Bernie Foster, outgoing NNPA Chairman Danny J. Bakewell Sr., and Isaac Harris at the NNPA Summer Conference 2011 |
The Skanner News brought home four national awards from the National Newspapers Publisher Association Foundation's Annual Merit Awards. The awards are part of the NNPA's annual summer conference, hosted this year by the storied Chicago Defender.
The Skanner News won the Carl Murphy Community Service Award, for its overall content and, in particular for the Medal of Honor series, which told the story of Black WW1 war hero Henry Lincoln Johnson. The stories were a team effort that included a video featuring Portland City Commissioner Nick Fish, and a specially designed logo.
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Bernie Foster, Publisher of The Skanner News, with author and Princeton University professor, Cornell West"Of all the awards we could have won, this is the one that means the most to me," said Bobbie Foster, executive editor.
The paper also scored second place in the E. Washington Rhodes Best Advertising Award, for ads created for The Skanner News mobile phone site. David Kidd, page designer and graphics specialist created the ads.
In the A. Philip Randolph Messenger Awards, sponsored by MillerCoors, individual recognition went to news editor Lisa Loving and multimedia editor Helen Silvis. Loving was runner-up for the Messenger in the Sustainability category for her story, "Clean Energy Works Portland- A Real Green Jobs Generator?" Silvis was runner-up in the Economic Empowerment category for her story, "Broadband Economy." Both prizes include a check for $500.
 Inside the Parkway Ballroom, Chicago, during the NNPA summer conference, publishers and journalists gathered for the NNPA Merit Awards ceremony. |
The Messenger awards are named for Asa Philip Randolph, the great turn of the century civil rights activist, labor organizer and publisher.
About 400 newspaper publishers come together at the NNPA conference to honor the best in African American journalism. This year's NNPA conference included sessions on Multimedia and a national leaders
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Michael Dyson, Rev. Jesse Jackson and Cornell West
 Forum moderated by Charles Ogletree, of the Harvard Law School and Jesse Climenko professor of Law, featuring: Chuck Morrison of Ford Motor Co.; Dr. Benjamin Chavis, Co-Founder, President and CEO of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network; Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, academic and professor of sociology at Georgetown University |
Rainbow PUSH founder Reverend Jesse L. Jackson Sr.; NAACP president Benjamin Todd Jealous; Dr. Maulana Karenga, professor of Africana Studies at California State University, Long Beach; and Reverend Al Sharpton. A forum, mediated by CNN's Roland Martin, brought together Rev. Al Sharpton, Cornell West, Charles Ogletree, and Rev. Jesse Jackson to discuss President Barack Obama and the Black agenda for jobs, responsibility and the community.
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Xernona Clayton, chairperson of the NNPA Awards committee introduced Richard Roundtree, known for his performance as SHAFTThe Samuel Cornish Publisher of the Year Award went to Garth Reeves, publisher emeritus of the Miami Times and America's oldest living Black newspaper publisher. The NNPA also elected a new president, Cloves Campbell Jr., publisher of The Arizona Informant.
Read the award winning stories here: |
